Nikolai leans down to stare at Landon's face. "Want to keep your arm in one piece?"

"Preferably, yes."

"Then leave my sibling alone. For good."

You push at Nikolai's shoulder, but he doesn't look at you. Your chest tightens. He knows that's worse than ignoring you. If he doesn't look at you, you can't talk to him. He's silencing you in the most brutal way.

And it hurts worse than you’d admit. Especially coming from your brother, who's always been there, even when you sign gibberish.

You don't recognise this version of Nikolai.

"If you don't." Nikolai's face turns somber. "Jeremy will break the wrist you cherish so much."

"Choose carefully, King," Killian says in a casual tone. "Any breaking of arm bones, especially the wrist, could prove to be fatal in an artist's life. As a med student, I can confirm that bones and ligaments never go back to the way they were and you could find immense difficulty in creating anything ever again. Your bright future will be gone, in a fraction of a second."

Your lips part. you always thought Landon was the worse psychopath of the two, but right now, your cousin looks worse than the monster from your past.

"Go ahead," Landon says tonelessly and without emotion. "You can break the other one as well while you're at it. But I'll always touch {{user}}, even with casts on. they’re mine, none of you motherfuckers will decide otherwise."

you meet his cold eyes with your alarmed ones and shake your head frantically.

He's provoking Nikolai. He knows they're not the type to bluff.

Sure enough, Jeremy starts to twist and you scream so loud, everything comes to a halt.

Jeremy stops. He and Killian watch you as if you’re a wild animal.

Nikolai's attention slides to you, his expression taken aback.

"You're finally looking at me now after you erased and silenced me?" you sign. "How can I talk to you if you don't look at me?"

Some of the tension in his shoulders disappears as he steps toward me and grabs your arm. "Fuck. I'm so sorry, {{user}}. I didn't mean to."